Praises and Prayer Requests

Just wanted to give you an idea of some things we could use prayer for:

-We found an apartment we'd really like- but there's a wait list, so we're just waiting :). Please pray that we would be able to get this apartment!

-We went to the dentist today, and I (Alisha) have way too many cavities. Pray that we would be able to get them all filled soon and that we won't have to pay too much!

-Pray that we would finish school strong and that we'd have a safe trip to our senior class trip in Pennsylvania at the beginning of May.

-Pray for us as we teach and parent Sophie :)

And some praises:

-We're almost done with our time at NTBI, and we have done well in our studies!

-Ben has perfect teeth and doesn't need anymore work!

-Ben has work lined up for this summer

-We are so excited about being back home in the Warsaw area!

And a few pictures of this cute kid...

Sport Tournament Fundraiser

We were sad to not be at Christ's Covenant Church tonight at the annual Art Gala. The Art Gala is so much fun- people make art to give and others buy the art- it's so neat to see the talent those in our church community have! The most exciting part is that the money goes toward missions. This year the money is going to two families who are preparing to head to Africa this year- we're so excited for the Hoods and the Cones and wish we could have been there tonight!

However, we did get to be a part of raising funds this weekends for Chris and Evie Jones, our dear friends who are preparing to move into a tribe soon. The senior class put together 3 different sport tournaments to raise money for Chris and Evie... ping pong, dodgeball, and hockey. Tonight was the hockey tournament, and both Ben and I played!

I played on the only girl team that there was... we had a lot of fun and played well! I haven't played since high school P.E. so I was a little nervous, but I didn't embarrass myself too much, so that was good!

Ben hasn't played much either, but he's had a little more practice than me. He mostly played the goalie position...

We girls lost our first game (against Ben's team!), then we won our second game (against boys who were 15-20 years younger than most of us, haha!), and then we lost the third game (by 1) which kicked us out of the loser's bracket. We had fun though!
Ben's team won their first game, won their second game, and won their third game... which meant they were the CHAMPIONS! It was fun that they won! One of the ladies made them reeses ice cream flurries as their reward! (in case you're wondering, Ben's team's name was Jason and the Xerxes, and my girl's team name was Girl Power)

We also did another fun thing this weekend to raise money for Chris and Evie... we used our artistic skills on the memorial wall! One of the girls in our class had this idea- it's a large white brick wall on the top floor of our gym- and we can buy a brick for $5 and paint it however we'd like. It's a fun way to "leave our mark" on the school, to be artistic, and to raise money for Chris and Evie!

Here is our family brick up close. And yes, that's really Sophie's foot print!

Bible School

Tonight we celebrated the life of James Hatton. He and his family have been missionaries with New Tribes for many years, and he was a teacher and mentor to students here at the Bible school for the past year. He died from cancer on April 9, and tonight the student body along with his family, church body, and friends came together to celebrate his life. It was the most beautiful memorial service I've ever been to. There was so much joy in the service, knowing he lived his life well and he is now in heaven.

What does that have to do with the title of this post?... Bible school. Well, James loved being here at the Bible school. He loved being a part of teaching young (and some older) people the Word of God. We've spent the last two years here at New Tribes Bible Institute, and we are so incredibly thankful for our time here! They say that you learn in 2 years here what you would learn in 36 years in Sunday School. We take 3-4 hours of classes every day, and we exclusively study the Bible chronologically from Genesis-Revelation. We have learned so much in such a short time that it really is difficult to put into words all that we have learned. From our study, we've obtained such a grasp on God's purpose through history- his purpose of loving mankind and desiring to have fellowship with him. We've come to understand the character of God in a much greater way that can only result in us desiring to praise him because he is worthy.

I have to be honest... I used to think it was silly when people went to Bible school after high school. I thought it was what people did because their parents made them or because they didn't know what else they wanted to do. I've come to learn through my two years here though that parents who request for their children to go to Bible school are smart. I've also come to highly respect those who choose Bible school, even if it's just because they don't know what they want to do with the rest of their life. While other colleges are great for learning knowledge and gaining a career, Bible school is amazing for life and godliness. So much growth happens here. It would be nearly impossible to leave Bible school and not have a more purposeful life.

In fact, we've enjoyed our time here so much, that we have been bugging our younger siblings, David and Brianna, to come here. If you know them, feel free to bug them too.

There are a lot of great Bible schools, but we've really enjoyed our time here at New Tribes Bible Institute because we've been able to study the Word with a strong emphasis on missions. If you want to know more about NTBI, their website is here, or ask us :). There are many young, single students here... the marrieds are actually the minority... so this is not just a place to come if you know you want to do missions. It's for everyone!

Spring Break Festivites

We had spring break last week, and enjoyed a break from classes and school work. It was so good to see family and friends. It was especially nice to see some friends we hadn't seen for a long time!

We celebrated Sophie's first birthday party (you can read more about it here)...

Jason and Laken enjoyed riding the 4-wheeler at Ben's parent's house...

Ben and Sophie did too (ok, Sophie didn't really like the wind)...
It was fun to show Jason and Laken some of where we were from...
We celebrated easter with our church family in Indiana. We are so thankful for what Christ did for mankind on Easter. He gave of his life, as the personal sacrifice, so that we could be reconciled to God. Such a wonderful holiday to remember this!
We ended it back in Michigan with our friends... playing a game we created which we affectionately named "Feet Ball." We had to pass the kickball to one another without it touching the ground and without using our hands. We figured we need to learn to be easily entertained since we're going to be missionaries.
Tomorrow we start classes back up. We have just over a month left and then we graduate!

Tribal Cup Weekend

This past weekend, Ben and I traveled to the other New Tribes Bible school, in Wisconsin, where we played sports. Ben played basketball, and I played volleyball. We had a lot of fun, and both of us played well! We realized how out-of-shape we are though!

Ben's basketball team played well and hard, but sadly they lost....

My volleyball team played well and hard too, but sadly we lost too... (the picture below was taken by a girl named Karis from Waukesha- thanks Karis! I didn't have any pictures)...
The other school- Waukesha- won 7 sports, and Jackson won 4, so unfortunately, Waukesha took the tribal cup from us (we won it last year). We were so glad we were able to go and play, and we had a great time!

Happy 24th Birthday to Us!

Today, Ben and I celebrated our 24th birthdays. We are fairly laid back when it comes to celebrating everything- I suppose you could call us either "boring" or "simple" or "not needy." We usually get each other things, but we never plan ahead much, and we're not disappointed if the other doesn't put much time or money into a gift. Anyways, we had a wonderful day. Having the same birthday means we usually go out to eat. We went to Red Lobster this year with a gift card from my best friend Abbey :). Ben gave me money for my gift, so I got to do some shopping which was fun! I splurged and bought a dress that I never would have bought otherwise, and I got nail polish. I got Ben keurig cups and a book he wanted. Jason and Laken also got us gifts! They got Ben keurig cups (he can have lots of coffee now!) and me a hot glue gun- thanks friends!

After lunch and shopping, we had dinner at Jason and Laken's apartment along with our neighbors Payton and Grace, and we invited Brad Buser, our chapel speaker this week. He and his family took the gospel to the Iteri tribe in Papua New Guinea, and he is an incredible speaker who loves the Lord and wanted the gospel taken to the ends of the world. It was encouraging to hang out with him and talk to him tonight.

Sophie also decided to take her first consecutive steps today (she had taken just one before)! How fun!

Also, thank you to our moms who welcomed us into the world 24 years ago and cared for us. As a mom myself now, I understand and appreciate so much more all that our moms gave up to care for us.

Rollerskating Married Social

We have about 4 married socials every semester. It's fun for us to be able to go out with the other married couples here at school and hang out. Last week we went roller skating and laser tagging. I think all of us agreed that it had been since middle or high school since we had gone roller skating. We were a little rusty, but we had fun! We also had fun laser tagging, although Jackson's laser tagging is a little subpar. It was in a small room, and you each team had to stay on their own side.

Probably the last time Ben and I went roller skating was for a high school youth group event...

Nice faces, Nathan and Aaron (fellow students)...
Our married dean, Dalton, and a fellow student Tom skating...
While we really enjoy having fun with other married couples here, we're also extremely thankful for the uplifting conversations we are able to have with one another as well. We have been challenged to grow deeper in our walk with the Lord and in our relationship with one another, and we've been blessed to watch and learn how others interact as families and parents. It's incredible to be around other families who are desiring to study the word just as we are, and many also plan to go into missions. It's awesome to think about how many of us will be living in different countries in 10 years from now, spreading the gospel.